Mr.Maila wears an Abaya

As we pulled  into the school parking lot there was a sea of boys in white kandoras wheeling their backpacks behind them and all eyes were on us, the female teachers, as they stared probably wondering what we were doing there. Little did they know we were there to teach them! Let the fun begin.....
Our Head of Faculty had thought of every last detail including the etiquette of shaking hands with the male principal. Many men do not extend a hand to females as a sign of respect, in western culture it would be offensive but here it is respectful NOT to shake hands or touch a female who is not your spouse.   We waited for a signal from the principal and when he folded his hands behind his back we knew he respected us but that we wouldn't be shaking hands with him.
The school is wonderful. The staff are all male and there is one female nurse who is very sweet. On the first day we toured the school and got to attend the morning assembly which has become the highlight of my morning routine. I thoroughly enjoy the chaos just prior to the assembly. I get a kick out of watching the kids run around and toss their sandals in the air and then the student band begins to play and each student finds his place in line to begin the morning presentations, sing the UAE national anthem, exercise and recite from the Koran.
We also had the opportunity to observe a few teachers teach their classes. All are excellent teachers. The next step was to attend the staff meeting and stand up and introduce ourselves to our 50 male coworkers.......intimidating, nahhhhh! well ok maybe a teeny bit :) 
As I write this, I have been teaching 2nd grade for 2 weeks now! Oh and yes I wear an abaya to school each day ( I proudly own 4). The time has flown and I enjoy mostly every minute of it, especially when the kids faces light up when we use the puppets to model language and conversation and of course especially when their hand shoots up in air and my ears start to ring with the sound of " mister mister mister!!!" and " Mr.Mailaaaaaa" I'm not quite sure if they will ever get the Mrs. part right but it sure makes for a good giggle every day! Lord knows we surely all need to laugh a lot more each day so let them continue to call me Mr. if it means I get to smile and laugh a little each day because of it. Did I mention that one student in my class wore gloves today?! Yes gloves, he was cold.

An adventure within an adventure

Today my friend Mandy and I received our new teaching placement. We were thrilled to find out that we will be team teaching and will be The FIRST EVER female teachers in an all male school. We are both equally excited that we will be living in the city of Abu Dhabi. I hear the school is fantastic and we will be meeting with our HOF later today for coffee to find out more info. It will be an amazing, challenging, fulfilling experience which I just never imagined but am embracing with happiness and joy in my heart.
We are part of history in the making; part of the education reform includes feminizing the primary schools in AD.

Taxis, sand dunes, coffee and school.

Had a wonderful first day of school. Finding the school on the outskirts of AD was a bit of an adventure. I began to think my school was buried under sand dune. In our taxi, We had to stop and ask several people before following a school bus that was heading that way. We drove past at least 7 schools thinking they were ours before we found our school. I was happy to go with Mandy since we were assigned to the same school. When we arrived at the school we walked into a lovely building and entered a huge courtyard end met the principal who was super friendly and surprised to see us. Then we met the Head of Faculty and we were ushered into the most glamorous and exquisitely decorated principal's office I have ever laid eyes on. The coffee and tea set were so lovely I could have spent all day sipping Arabic coffee and sitting on the plush leather couch. 
It turns out that my assigned school already has enough teachers so today I will get a new assignment.

EID holiday!

Eid al adha 

From this Friday to Tuesday is the Eid al Adha holiday. I am so thankful to get to take part in the celebrations and have time to prepare mentally for my first day of school which will be this coming Wednesday.
I have now been here for one full week and so much has happened in such a short time frame it is important to step back, reflect and breathe at the end of each day. Here is a recap of my week:

Tuesday was our first orientation and it was a FULL day. It began at the Grand Millenium Hotel and we were given information about the teaching reform and had a Q & A session. We also were able to sign up for our bank account and my that was a process of confusion. The interesting part was when they began handing out apartment keys to about 10 people. I did not receive my keys but I do know that I will be getting them very soon!! Insha'allah! After that we were bused to the medical centre for a medical check up. We got our work visas and then went home to the hotel! 

Wednesday was the 2nd day of orientation and it was very well organized and and well presented. We all learned so much about the cultural customs and expectations and were able to ask many questions of our own. Many of us were in for a shock when we received our placements but we are trying our best to stay positive! The buffet lunch was wonderful and it was a nice time to bond with more teaching friends. At the end of the day, our minds were on information overload. Lindsay and Joe (my new Canadian friends) invited me for a delicious spaghetti supper and then a group of us went out for a few drinks at a swanky hotel and it was fun except for all the smoking going on which made my throat sore and want to go home early! The perk was that is was ladies night so free drinks!!!

Thursday was another adventure on the bus to the Marina Mall for window shopping and lunch. I was sooooooooooooooooo excited to go to Marks and Spencer because I think it may just be my favorite store on earth! I love their clothes and their food. Their is only a small selection of food at the Abu dhabi M & S but they say they will expand it soon. The mall is lovely and includes a movie theatre and skating rink. I have a feeling I will be more wowed by the malls in Dubai but I can't complain. After bonding and shopping with the ladies we all came back to the hotel exhausted and I decided to go for a swim and chill out.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday have flown by and now it's Tuesday Morning. Tomorrow I start school and still have no clue what grade I will be teaching! Luckily I am sharing a cab with my friend Mandy who will also be teaching at my school. I sure hope we don't get lost! We could be teaching any grade from 1-5 in an all Boys school!!!!!
 This reminds me so much of my first year if teaching because I had not even been to the school and only knew I was teaching French. Then I got to school and found out it was not only teaching French but prep for JK,SK as well as physical.Ed and Drama. So BRING IT ON!